ORGANIC PEST CONTROL - Recipes and Remedies

Updated on January 11, 2011

Natural Pest Control

The very
best form of natural pest control is to grow healthy plants so that they are able
to look after themselves. As a starting
point, give your plants the right amount of food, soil, moisture and sunshine.

You can
adopt an organic approach to pest control by making regular patrols on the
plants in order to identify such pests as caterpillars, aphids, mites, red
spiders and the like. Check your
vegetables well, particularly looking under lettuce and cabbage leaves, and on
beans, peas and carrots.

Beneficial
(predator) insects such as Ladybirds (ladybugs), wasps, lacewings and
dragonflies should be encouraged. All
‘pests’ are food for their predators and by killing them all off you are cutting
down the chances that predators will build up enough to do the job of ‘pest
control’ for you. Therefore, use
sparingly.

Organic,
natural pest control can be done easily and cleverly, and can be very efficient
and effective.

The
following are just a few excellent recipes for organic gardeners.

BORDEAUX MIXTURE -
Brown rot, curly leaf, black spot, mildew

Bordeaux is
a standard organic fungicide. It can be
used when plants are dormant, generally during the winter months. It can be used on all citrus or cool days,
when there are no blossoms on the trees.
Bordeaux is effective for brown rot, curly leaf, black spot and other
bacterial, fungal and mildew problems.
Spray grapevines when the shoots are less than 100cm long, for black
spot and powdery mildew.

Always make
Bordeaux mixture fresh as it doesn’t keep and will begin to separate after an
hour or so, therefore it must be used soon after preparation.

In another
non-metallic container, mix 125 grams of slaked lime (not agricultural lime) in
4.5 litres (1 gallon) of cold water. Mix
the two together and stir well.

Test the
mixture using an old nail. Dip the nail
into the mixture for around 30 seconds.
If the nail comes out blue, you need to add more lime, or at least, more
stirring and mixing in order to dissolve the lime. Do NOT use the mixture until the problem is
corrected, otherwise you may burn your plants.

The mixture
can be used with any spray equipment.
Keep some fresh, clean water on hand to wash out nozzles to keep them
clear of clogging.

Spray in
early winter or only spray every second row, finishing off the rest ten days
later.

Take care
not to use too much Bordeaux as it will cut down the numbers of natural
predators around during Spring time.

BUG SPRAY -
Fruit-sucking Beetles

Collect as
many of your pest insects, bugs and beetles and put them in a container. Add water, then place in a blender. Blend well, then transfer to a spray
bottle.

Spray
mixture on all the plants that you do not want those particular bugs, insects
and beetles to inhabit. The smell of the
dead bugs acts as a deterrent.

CHAMOMILE TEA SPRAY -
Black spot, scab, mildew, brown rot, rust

Chamomile
tea can be used as a very mild fungicide.
Use it for early mildews and fungal problems, and for brown rot on
fruit.

To make,
cover a handful of flowers in boiling water, or use a Chamomile teabag,
according to the directions on the pack.
Allow to cool then transfer to a clean sprayer bottle.

CHIVE SPRAY -
Rust, brown rot

Grab a
handful of fresh chives and place in a container. Cover with water and allow to steep. When cooled, strain off water, then place in
a sprayer bottle. Spray on all plants
affected by rust.

COMFREY SPRAY - Rust,
brown rot, black spot

Take a
handful of Comfrey and cover with fresh water for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Strain and place in a spray bottle.

DEHYDRATED FLOUR -
Cherry slug, pear slug

Dust small
cherry and pear trees with dehydrated flour, as this will act as a stomach
poison to pear and cherry slugs.

EGGSHELLS -
White butterflies

As a decoy
for White butterflies (or cabbage moths), place eggshells under and around
cabbages and all brassicas.

Broken eggshells
can also be used as a deterrent for snails and slugs. Place the crushed eggshells around any plants
you wish to keep snails and slugs away from.
The slugs/snails find it difficult to cross the broken eggshells.

GLUE SPRAY -
Aphids, white fly, harlequin bugs, mites, whooly aphids

Mix 1 cup of
white flour with 1 cup of boiling water
- then mix in cold water. Stir until it is of a thick consistency. Strain out any lumps through a sieve.

Place into a
spray bottle for use on small plants, and a larger, pump-action sprayer for
high plants and trees. Spray the top of
leaves as well as underneath, ensuring that the entire surface is covered.

Either wait
for the glue to peel off, or wash off in rain naturally, or hose the plant down
after 24 hours. (Ensure that you clean
out the sprayer nozzle and bottle, otherwise the glue will set and that will be
the end of it)

In hot
weather dilute 1 cup of full cream milk to 9 cups of water. This is to ensure that young foliage and
flower buds don’t burn.

MILK and BICARBONATE OF SODA -
Brown rot, mildew, scab, black spot

Make up
‘Milk Spray’ as above, adding 1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda - and
transfer to a spray bottle.

NETTLE SPRAY -
Brown rot

Take a
handful of Nettle and cover with fresh water for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Strain and bottle.

OIL SPRAY -
Aphids

Oil sprays
work by covering the insects and/or their eggs with a light film of oil,
suffocating them.

Take 1
kilogram of soap for every 8 litres of oil.
Boil and stir vigorously until totally dissolved. Dilute this with 20 times the volume of
water.

This spray
will separate quickly, so it is unable to be stored. Therefore, use immediately.

Use oil
sprays only when the temperature is below 24C, otherwise the oil may cause leaf
damage.

PYRETHRUM - Bugs

Pyrethrum is
a broad spectrum spray made from pulverized pyrethrum flowers (Chrysanthemum
cinerariafolium). Pyrethrum kills bugs,
but has low toxicity for animals and humans.
Beware though that Pyrethrum also kills bees, so be sure to only use it
in the evenings.

Take 1
tablespoon of Pyrethrum powder or 2 tablespoons of flowers. Cover with oil and leave to steep
overnight. Strain fully, then add 1
litre of water and mix well. Use
immediately.

SEAWEED SPRAY -
Powdery mildew, brown rot

Seaweed
strengthens a plant’s resistance to a range of infections as well as makes them
resistant to frost. It can be also be
used as a preventative measure against brown rot. Seaweed is also said to help
fruit set.

Seaweed solutions
can be commercially bought, but to make your own Seaweed spray:

Wash salt
from seaweed and cover with fresh water for at least 3 weeks. Strain off as much water as required, then
dilute it until it is the colour of very weak tea. Place in a spray bottle and use when
required.

SNAIL SOUP -
Repels snails and slugs

To repulse
snails and slugs, collect as many as you can, then place in a container and
cover with water. Put a lid on the
container and put aside for 3 or 4 days, allowing the snails and slugs to
ferment. Strain, then spray where you
don’t want slugs and snails to invade.

TOOTHBRUSHES -
Aphids, mites, thrips, bean fly

Although a
toothbrush is not a ‘recipe’ as such, it is an effective tool to use to scrape
and brush off small bugs such as aphids, bean fly, mites and thrips from the
leaves and stems.

URINE
- Apple and pear scab, mildew

Human urine
is sterile (unless the donor has a urinary tract infection) although it does
not remain sterile when stored, therefore, must be used as fresh as possible.

Spray the
full strength urine on dormant trees, at least twice in winter. Use it diluted with ten parts water on summer
mildew problems.

Spray apple
and pear trees for scab with diluted urine when ¾ of the blossom has fallen.

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